Methods Employed in Business Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Methods Employed in Business Research - Essay Example Quantitative research emphasizes quantification in the data collection and analysis. It entails a deductive approach on the correlation between research and theory, wherein emphasis is put on testing theories (cited in Bryman & Bell, 2007, p.28). Quantitative research combined norms and practices of positivism and scientific model. It supports the view that social reality represents the objective reality. In contrast, qualitative research emphasizes the importance of words instead of quantification in data collection and analysis (cited in Bryman & Bell, 2007, p.28). It entails an inductive approach on the correlation between research and theory, wherein the emphasis is put on generation of theories. Qualitative approach rejected the norms and practices of positivism and natural scientific model. It focuses on the interpretation of individuals with their social world. It supports the premise that social reality is constantly shifting (cited in Bryman & Bell, 2007, p.28). Quantitative methods reflect the â€Å"positivist† approach in conducting researches. Positivism is based on the premise that the world is explainable, controllable, and measurable. Experts argue that the world exists and functions externally; thus, its properties should be studied and measured through objective means. Positivism asserts that knowledge which can be observed and quantified is considered as valid (cited in Brown & Remenyi, 2004, p.243). Positivism stresses the need to objectively and accurately perform observations. Researchers who adhere to this perspective concentrate on eliminating biases and values. They identify factors that lead to a particular event (Marlow, 2010, p.9). Qualitative methods are associated with interpretivism as its general philosophy. Positivism is driven to explain the phenomena to predict and manipulate them while interpretivism concentrates on the interpretation and understanding. Interpretivism supports the premise that reality is not single, obj ective, and divisible, but it is multiple, contextual, and socially constructed. It concentrates on individuals and their manner of making sense and interpreting the reality (Holloway, 1997, p.93). Holloway (1997, p.93) noted that researchers should not consider individuals as existing in a vacuum but as inseparable to the context of their lives. Researchers who adhere to this perspective believe that understanding the individual experiences is as indispensable as the positivist belief in the importance of explanation, prediction, and control (Holloway, 1997, p.93). This ontological premise suggests the use of multiple methodologies. It emphasizes on the richness instead of the amount of data collected (Phillimore & Goodson, 2004, p.157). Qualitative research focuses upon the relations with employees, managerial work, organizational control systems, and identity and gender at work. However, researches which utilized qualitative methods were infrequently presented in practitioner and academic outlets of the business field (Cassell, Buehring, Symon, & Johnson, 2006, p.17). Researchers stress the need for researches that employ diverse sources of data. These researchers further reiterated that conventional research studies led to studies that support repetitive topics and narrow paradigms. They